


Year 7

by SingingInTheRaiin



Series: Minerva McGonagall and the Troublesome Boy [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (tbf there's an entire battle going on), Dobby is happy to help, Draco can make some things easier, Draco loves Harry, Gen, M/M, Slytherin Harry, The Battle of Hogwarts, harry loves draco, neville still sorta has his moment, some background character death, there is no dragon this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:32:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Year 7





	Year 7

If Draco even had a single clue about where to begin looking for Harry, he certainly wouldn’t be doing anything else. As it was though, he just didn’t know where to even start. He knew that McGonagall had started to try and keep an eye out for him, but then everything else had happened so quickly. With Dumbledore out of the way, it hadn’t been difficult for Voldemort to make a move on the Ministry itself, and now it seemed as though the dark lord was controlling half of the wizarding population of Europe at this point. Draco hated feeling so helpless.

The one good thing that had happened was his father being let out of jail. Voldemort still believed Lucius to be loyal to him, and had wanted the man back by his side, since he’d always been a part of Voldemort’s inner circle. But that had left Lucius in the very precarious position of trying to avoid being murdered by Voldemort while also not actively working to help the evil wizard.

The whole summer had passed by with everyone in the Malfoy family feeling extremely tense, as Voldemort had decided all on his own that the Malfoy Manor would be an excellent place for him to live. Despite Harry not being around, McGonagall had been perfectly fine with letting Draco stay over at her place quite often, and Draco’s parents encouraged it, wanting to keep him as far away from Voldemort as they could.

But now he was on the train to Hogwarts, and Draco had no idea what to do with himself. How the bloody hell was he just supposed to show up at school and act as though everything was normal when it was all anything but? There was a genocidal maniac living in his house and his boyfriend had been missing for a couple of months now without any sign of him anywhere, and Draco’s parents constantly looked exhausted, and one of the dark lord’s strongest enemies was dead, and it felt like the entire world was ending, crashing down right around him. 

And somehow, Severus had indeed gotten away with murder, probably because he was supposedly working with the side that basically owned the Ministry at this point. He’d heard McGonagall complain about it at one point- she’d been deputy headmistress, and therefore next in line to lead the school after Dumbledore’s death, but Severus had been declared the new headmaster of Hogwarts. Hopefully that would bode well for Draco, since he knew that his godfather loved him, but he also didn’t want Severus to favor him if it meant putting himself at risk of being called out by Voldemort’s other minions.

Everything was so strange in Hogwarts, it felt as though it must be opposite day. Known Death Eaters were running around under the guise of being professors, Gryffindors were suddenly the ones everyone seemed to have a problem with, kids were being attacked by their own teachers, and everyone was turning on each other. It was hardly even justifiable to call the place a school anymore, since there was basically no learning going on. Severus and McGonagall both did what they could to protect the students, but they were far outnumbered, and Voldemort’s power stretched down the stone corridors of Hogwarts all too easily. It seemed as though more students went missing everyday, though whether it was because they left for their own safety or because they’d been irreparably harmed already, no one could say for sure. 

With the way things were going, Draco honestly wasn’t sure whether he was better off staying at Hogwarts over the holidays or not. But in the end he did, because his parents sent word that that’s what they would prefer. But for the spring break he wasn’t so lucky. His parents worded their letter in a way that made it clear he had no choice but to return home. And all the while he still hadn’t heard anything from Harry, and was growing increasingly panicked about it.

Draco felt like he had to walk through his own home on tiptoes, not wanting to disturb any of the Death Eaters that had settled themselves in as if they owned the place. He did his best to avoid all of them, even his aunt, without looking as though that’s what he was doing. And he knew that Narcissa and Lucius only wanted to protect him, but there was hardly anything they could do if they didn’t want to arouse anyone’s suspicions. 

Every morning when Draco woke up, he questioned whether it was even worth getting up and going about his day. It certainly seemed as though curling up under his blankets and crying would be about as productive as anything else that he could do while he was here. But he forced himself to get up, to maintain appearances for his family. 

After he got dressed he headed downstairs, and heard the maniacal cackling of his aunt coming from the direction of the sitting rooms. He had no idea why, but something in his gut told him that he needed to be there. So he cautiously followed the sound of demented laughter, and hesitated in the doorway to the room. 

Bellatrix was standing in front of two figures that were tied up on their knees in front of her, while she handed some money over to the sweaty men who were standing by. As soon as they’d gotten their money, the men stepped through the floo, clearly eager to get away. Draco couldn’t blame them for that, though he could blame them for picking people up just to get paid, as if those people meant nothing more than a means to gold for them.

Bellatrix looked over at Draco. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here! Perhaps you can help me to identify these two little muddy blooded twits? They claim to be from pureblood families but they are obviously liars. No pureblood family would produce a face this grotesque!”

The last thing Draco wanted to do was turn anyone over to the merciless grasp of his aunt. But he was frightened of what might be done to him if he didn’t cooperate, and he couldn’t let anything happen to himself until he found Harry. He gulped once, and then slowly walked over to stand next to Bellatrix, facing the poor prisoners. 

He blinked a couple times in surprise as he looked at them closely. The one on the right was clearly Viktor Krum. Draco had seen the man’s picture often enough on the cards, but he supposed that his aunt hadn’t exactly had a large interest in chocolate frogs while she was in Azkaban.

And kneeling next to Krum was someone almost identical to the famous athlete, but with a stinging hex having puffed his face up grossly. His cheeks squished up far enough that he was forced to keep his eyes squeezed shut. Draco didn’t say anything, because he honestly wasn’t sure what to say. He knew enough about Krum to know that the man had no siblings, let alone identical twins, which meant that this was probably a case of polyjuice potion being used. Once that and the stinging hex wore off, the stranger’s identity would be revealed to them, and Draco knew that there was nothing he could do to protect these two, as much as it killed him to admit.

Bellatrix was insane, but she was no idiot, and she came to the same conclusion as Draco about the polyjuice potion. “We’ll just let them stew in here for a little while before we can see their real faces.” Draco blinked a few times in confusion, and she laughed. “The Snatchers said that both of these men are some famous lad, but that can hardly be true, can it? They must’ve both changed to look like him.” 

The non-disfigured Krum rolled his eyes. “If neither of us are the real thing, how would we have gotten any samples to make potions with? It’s like you’re trying to be daft.”

Draco winced, knowing that some days his aunt would laugh at an insult, while other days she would brutally murder for one. She lazily flicked her wand towards the prisoner, who was raised up into the air. “Leave him alone!” the other Krum choked out with some difficulty. 

Bellatrix let the first Krum drop to the floor unceremoniously, and he didn’t make a single noise of pain as he dropped. The madwoman focused her attention on the second Krum, taking a step closer to him. “Oh, trying to play the hero, are you? How adorable. And so very un-Slytherin. Your cover story is only getting worse and worse. But if you are so heroic, I suppose you wouldn’t mind taking his place?”

The second Krum bravely shook his head, letting out a casual, “Not at all,” while the first one looked on with narrowed eyes. The first Krum pressed his lips together into a flat line, though, and didn’t actually say anything to protest. Draco thought that that seemed pretty cowardly all things considered, but since he wasn’t saying anything at the moment either, it’s not like he could really blame the captive.

Then the second Krum was the one being raised up into the air, and Bellatrix let out a loud laugh and shouted out, “I’ll only stop when you beg me to!” before sending jolts of bright green light racing towards him, and it made him writhe in the air, face twisted in pain, looking quite hideous with the stinging hex already making him look so unusual. 

Whoever the second Krum really was, he held out for a lot longer than Draco thought he’d be able to under the cruciatus curse. What that man was experiencing was pure pain, with no break for anything else. The first Krum stared up with wide eyes full of concern, and it felt like decades passed before the one being tortured finally bit out a terse, “Please, enough!” Bellatrix kept going for another minute longer just to show that she could, and then dropped him back to the ground, where his body continued to twitch and spasm in remembrance of the pain he’d just felt. 

Bellatrix twirled her wand through the air a few times before resting it between the palms of both hands. “So which of you wants to tell me your real names instead of making me wait for the potion to wear off? If I don’t get any volunteers, I’ll be forced to choose for myself which one of you to speak with. And I can think of so many different fun ways of getting you to talk.”

The first Krum scowled up at her. “I am the real Viktor Krum.”

She arched one eyebrow, looking delighted by the answer, most likely because she believed it to be a complete lie. “Oh really? And pray tell, what business does a Bulgarian athlete such as yourself have down here? If you were interested in showing allegiances, you wouldn’t do it by skulking around in the woods now, would you?”

The second Krum spoke in a shaky voice, though Draco was amazed that the man could speak at all after what he’d just been through. He’d witnessed certain low-ranking Death Eaters go mute for weeks after being crutioed. “We have no wish to join your master.”

“Well what do you want, then? Because surely you aren’t stupid enough to believe you can actually defeat him?” The two Krums exchanged a look that seemed to contain an entire silent conversation, and Bellatrix didn’t appreciate being left out. “Well, since neither of you have volunteered yet, I guess I get the pleasure of choosing for myself who I’m going to ‘ask’ next. But even as she was talking, the second Krum’s face began to bubble and shift, and the first Krum cursed under his breath, drawing Bellatrix’s attention towards himself. “Is there something you’d like to say to me?”

The first Krum pretended to think about it for a moment before he nodded. “Actually, yes, there is. You are a rotten bitch.” She screamed as she cast a few jinxes at him- nothing that would do permanent damage, but enough to certainly make him feel rather uncomfortable.

But Draco could barely pay any attention to that. The stinging hex didn’t go away, but it had started to heal enough that the man could actually open his eyes a sliver, and Draco would recognize those eyes anywhere. He felt like his heart was about to stop beating as he stood there. He opened his mouth to whisper Harry’s name, but then stopped himself in time. If his aunt figured out just who was in front of her… well, Draco didn’t want to think about what could happen.

Harry was looking at the other Krum in concern- possibly actually the real Krum?- but then his attention slowly shifted over to Draco, and he seemed just as surprised as Draco was. Which made sense, since Draco hadn’t said anything since entering the room and Harry’s eyes had been closed the entire time. Draco wanted to just drop to his knees and pull Harry into a tight hug and swear to never let the boy out of his sight again. Well… he supposed that Harry wasn’t technically a boy anymore. He would’ve turned seventeen over the summer, which made him officially an adult according to wizarding law. 

Right now, Harry’s messy black hair was draped over his forehead enough to cover his scar, and his face was still distorted from the hex, but there was still the very real possibility that Bellatrix was going to recognize him any minute now, unless Draco did something to get everyone out of this situation. 

But what the hell could he do? He was so powerless and he hated it. But he wasn’t just going to stand around and do nothing. The entire world was going to hell around him, and Harry had been off doing who-knows-what since the end of last year, and Draco had had plenty of time to get over the feeling of betrayal he’d felt then, and had been able to look at things from Harry’s perspective. He was still mad about Harry keeping something so important from him, but he was more worried about Harry’s safety than anything. And now here he was, alive and as well as could be given the situation, and there was no way in hell that Draco was going to let anything else happen to him. 

Draco took a small step towards his aunt, and reached into his pocket to finger his wand even though he wasn’t sure if he was actually brave enough to use it or not. “Auntie Bella, I was thinking that-”

She grinned, and Draco didn’t like that wild look in her eyes. “Excellent idea! It’s long past time for you to learn how to show someone that you’re the one in control. Come over here and stand next to me. I’ll teach you some of my favorite spells. Come on!”

Draco gulped as he moved closer to her. What the hell could he even do here? Harry was giving him a weird look, and tilting his head strangely, and then Draco’s eyes widened slightly. He and Harry had learned about some of the mind arts together, and had practiced together ever since then, so was Harry telling him to look into his mind? Well if he wasn’t, Harry was good enough at defending himself that Draco wouldn’t be able to get in anyways, so it was at least worth a try, right? 

He stared intensely at Harry even as he slowly raised his wand, and then felt himself sinking into the familiarity of Harry’s mind. It was like stepping out into a warm sunny day and being able to look around at a big, green meadow full of flowers. It was a beautiful sight, as always, though there were definitely some differences compared to the last time Draco had been here. He couldn’t believe that it had been almost an entire year since he’d even seen his boy, and longer still since he’d had a chance to do this.

Now wasn’t the time to be focusing on what a wonderful feeling this place gave him, though. He needed to worry about whatever it was that Harry might want to show him. It’s not like Harry would try and distract Draco in this kind of situation without any good reason. He looked around, and spotted a memory that seemed to be brighter than the others. He moved towards it and let it wash over him. 

_“So there should be just three of them left, right? We’ve already gotten me, the diary, the ring, and the locket. What do you think the others could be?”_

_Krum frowned and tilted his head to the side, a thoughtful look on his face. “Well we don’t know a lot about You-Know-Who, but he seems quite interested in old things. The diary was probably just sentimental value, but the ring and locket were both heirlooms of his family, right? Are there any other Slytherin or Gaunt relics left?”_

_Harry shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. Though if he does like old things…” he trailed off, and took a moment to put his thoughts together. “What better way would there be to prove that he’s better than everyone else than to take the most important object from four of the most powerful wizards? He already got Slytherin’s locket. There’s also a cup, a diadem, and the sword.”_

_“Hm. I don’t think that the sword could be one. Wouldn’t we have noticed something weird about it if it was a horcrux, the way we did with the locket?”_

_“Maybe. But the cup and the diadem are still possibilities, right? And then one more. So at least we know where to start, right? Both of those things should be in Hogwarts?”_

_Krum nodded. “I think so. But I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to be seen at the school, considering everything we’ve heard about what’s going on there. We still have a bit of polyjuice potion yet from before.” He reached up to pull out one of his own hairs, and then rummaged around in his bag for a glass vial that he unstoppered and dropped the hair into._

_Harry made a face. “This stuff is nasty.”_

_Krum shrugged. “It’s that or risking getting ourselves both killed. I may have sided with you after the tournament, but at least I’m not the one who Voldemort would want to kill on sight.”_

_They started to pack up their things, but then suddenly someone tripped the wards that they’d set up around their camp. Krum swore under his breath, and then turned to shoot a stinging hex at Harry, which stretched his face and made his scar unrecognizable until the polyjuice finished doing its job._

So Harry had asked Krum to hunt horcruxes with him? If they weren’t in such a dire situation at the moment, Draco would probably throw a bit of a fit at the thought that Harry had gone all the way to Bulgaria to ask for Krum’s help instead of just coming back to Draco. Were things between them really so hopeless? Obviously this wasn’t the best time to be worrying about his relationship problems, but Draco just couldn’t help it.

He pulled himself out of Harry’s head and blinked a couple of times as he regained his bearings. Practically no time at all had passed, so Draco gave Harry just the slightest nod to let him know that he’d seen. The cup, the diadem, and something else. It didn’t exactly sound easy, since Draco had heard the same stories as everyone else about the diadem being lost to time, but he was pretty sure that he knew where to find the cup, so at least there was that. 

Even though he had no idea what her reaction would be, Draco suddenly reached out and grabbed his aunt’s arm. “You know, I’ve been thinking that maybe torturing them isn’t going to help. These type are all a stubborn lot, you know?”

“And what would we do instead?”

Draco shrugged. “We could just wait until V-Voldemort gets back, and let him deal with them. I think the fear alone might be enough to get them to talk.”

Bellatrix arched one eyebrow, and let out a shrill laugh that hurt Draco’s ears. “Sure, why not? I can always torture them afterwards. Bring these idiots down to the basement with the others.” Then she left, and Draco let out a sigh of relief that it had been so easy to get his aunt derailed. There were some benefits to her being so insane, then. 

Draco grabbed Harry and Krum by the arms, and pulled them up to their feet, and then started leading them out of the room. As soon as they were out of Bellatrix’s sight, Draco leaned forward to speak quietly to both of the prisoners. “I think I know how to get all of us out of this. Remember in second year, Harry, when you freed Dobby, and he decided that he was like, in love with you or whatever? House elves have some kind of different magic than wizards and witches, so he should be able to get us out.”

“Us?” Harry breathed out softly.

Draco nodded. “Yeah. Oh, and there’s a few people already in the basement, so I’m going to bring you down there, and then you can call for Dobby, so that hopefully he can grab everyone.”

“Where would we go?”

Draco frowned, having not really considered that yet. “Well, it might not be the best idea for a long term place, but for now, we can go to my family’s vacation house in Spain. We can ward the place as soon as we get there, and it would at least give us a little bit of time to gather ourselves together and figure out how we’re going to end this all.”

He expected some argument about how that was a terrible plan, but Krum just glanced at Harry, and then nodded once. “Sure. Going to mine or Harry’s places would be too obvious.”

They got down to the basement, where there was one of the Death Eaters standing on guard. “My aunt needs you upstairs immediately. I’ll make sure these guys are properly locked away.”

The woman looked slightly uncertain, but Draco made sure that his voice sounded firm and he had the look of someone who was not to be argued with. She nodded, and hurried up the stairs, not wanting to keep Bellatrix waiting. Then Draco unlocked the basement door and let go of Harry and Krum so that they could walk in on their own. He also severed the ropes that were keeping them tied up so that it was one less thing to worry about.

The other prisoners consisted of a wandmaker, and a few miscellaneous Hogwarts students who’d run away from the school but gotten caught up by the Snatchers. Harry cleared his throat, and called out Dobby’s name. There was a soft crack, and then the house elf was standing there, looking somewhat confused. “What can Dobby be doing for you, Master Harry?”

“Can you get all of us out of here, to a location of a vacation house in Spain?”

Dobby nodded proudly. “I can do that!” 

Draco told Dobby the address, and then nodded towards the other prisoners, who looked so beaten down and sick and tired. “Can you bring them first?”

Dobby nodded, and walked over to them, disappearing with a soft pop. Krum and Harry both stretched their arms up over their head to try and loosen up their stiff muscles, and then Krum looked at Draco. “What about our wands? They were taken away from us.”

Draco swore under his breath, and wondered where his mind was at the moment that he hadn’t even thought about something like that. Of course Krum and Harry wouldn’t still have their wands on them, and of course they couldn’t just leave without them. A wizard’s wand was their most important tool, and vital to being able to get any magic done besides the basic accidental stuff. “Right, of course. Alright, so you two can go with Dobby and I’ll go figure out where your wands are so that I can get them back.”

Harry immediately shook his head. “Too dangerous. Your aunt could figure out any minute now that there’s something going on, especially when that Death Eater asks what she wants, and she’ll know that she didn’t request that person’s presence.”

“So what’s your solution then? That we all go together and get three times as likely to get caught?”

Harry frowned. “No. But we can’t just leave you here by yourself. Come on.”

Krum cleared his throat. “Well, it’s too dangerous for you to stay for sure, Harry, now that you look like yourself again. The rest of that stinging hex could be gone in minutes, and then you’ll be recognized immediately. You should go with the others. I’ll stay here and make sure that Malfoy stays safe.”

It looked like Harry wanted to stay and argue, but there just wasn’t the time for that. Dobby returned a moment later, and Draco shoved Harry towards the house elf. “Just go already, you idiot. I have motivation to get out of here alive, because how else are we going to have the undoubtedly awkward and intense talk that we definitely need to have?”

Harry sighed, but then reached his hand out to take Dobby’s. “Fine. But if you don’t get out of here alive, I’m coming back to kick your ass.”

Then Draco and Krum rushed for the stairs, with Draco taking the lead so that he could guide Krum through the house in a way that helped avoid the maximum number of Death Eaters. He peered around a corner at the room that Bellatrix had taken over and declared her office, and then he cast a small spell to make it sound like a snake was hissing nearby. It didn’t take long for her to leave the office, a small look of confusion on her face at the thought that her master had returned from his trip already.

Then the boys both rushed into the office, and quickly stunned the Death Eater that was still standing there shifting back and forth on her feet awkwardly. Krum caught her and lowered her to the ground gently so that no one would be alerted by a loud thudding noise. Then they began searching the room as quickly as possible, until Krum let out a triumphant noise, and pulled out a jar with several wands in it. “Some of these must belong to the other prisoners,” he whispered. “Let’s take them all.” 

Draco nodded, and took half the stack so that they didn’t have to worry about Krum accidentally dropping some onto the ground. “Dobby,” he said as loudly as he dared to. The house elf appeared, and then both boys reached out with their free hands to grab Dobby’s hands, and a moment later, they disappeared with a soft pop.

,,,

“Are you out of your bloody mind? How the hell do you think we could possibly get into Hogwarts with all the Death Eaters that are there?”

There was a determined look on Harry’s face, which was now completely healed of the stinging hex, and Draco hated that look as much as he loved it. “We know that the school is full of all kinds of hidden rooms and hallways, so who’s to say that there aren’t any hidden entrances that would be unguarded?”

Draco shook his head. “That’s an absolutely terrible idea. Let’s start with something more manageable, why don’t we? You think that one of the horcruxes is Hufflepuff’s cup, right? Well I think I know where that is. My aunt has a lot of old valuables in a vault in Gringotts.”

Harry snorted. “Oh, so getting into a school is insane, but breaking into the most highly secured bank in the wizarding world, into the vault of someone who we just ran away from, is a great idea.” He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, and Draco sighed.

Krum shrugged, and leaned back in his seat so the front two legs of the chair were in the air. “Sounds like it could be interesting. We knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be easy.” 

Draco narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of… why the hell did you go to Krum instead of me when you realized that you would need help?” Harry pressed his lips together into a flat line that seemed to imply that he didn’t want to talk about it. But that was too damn bad, because Draco needed answers. 

Krum let his chair slam forward again, and slowly stood up. “I’m going to go check on the others,” he muttered before hurrying out of the kitchen. 

Then it was just the two of them, and Draco felt a lot of things welling up in him at the same time, to the point where he couldn’t even identify half of what he was feeling at the moment. “You just left, without saying a word, and that’s it? You don’t have anything to say to me? Where the hell have you been the past year? I’ve been worried sick, thinking everyday that it was going to be the day I woke up to read a headline saying that you were dead! And your mother has been worried about you too! You couldn’t have at least let her know that you were alive?” He could feel the tears building up in his eyes as he spoke, and really hoped that they wouldn’t start falling.

Harry gave Draco a long look, and then gulped once before tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling. “What do you want me to say? I left because that’s what you wanted me to do. Viktor was one of the first people to really be on my side, so it made sense to go to him for help. I didn’t want to get you any more involved in any of this. I just ruin everything, and I didn’t want to ruin you.”

Draco shook his head. “That’s bullshit. It wasn’t some brave move to go out on your own, it was an act of cowardice. You didn’t want to face me and own up to your actions. You knew that keeping something so big from me was wrong, and you didn’t want to deal with the consequences of my reaction. The only person you were trying to protect was yourself.”

Harry took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. “I didn’t have many chances to, but I did talk to Minerva whenever I got the opportunity.”

Well Draco wasn’t sure what to do with that. It meant that McGonagall had been lying to him every time he’d asked if she’d heard anything from Harry. It also meant that Harry had had opportunities to reach out to Draco, and had just chosen not to do so. “I don’t… I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. I- I’m still going to help you beat You-Know-Who, because it’s the right thing to do, but you and I are done.”

Harry shrugged, and then finally looked Draco in the eyes. “I’d assumed that we were done last year, the moment you told me to go the hell away.” He slowly rose up to his feet, and jammed his hands into his pockets. “Let’s go see the others, and you can tell us about your plan to get the cup.” He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Draco behind again, and Draco felt like his heart had just been torn right out of his chest and stomped on top of.

,,,

Krum and Harry were squished together underneath Harry’s cloak, while Draco stared up at the goblin at the desk with the most haught and confident look that he could manage. “My aunt sent me to retrieve an item from her vault.” He reached into his pocket to pull out the key. He’d had Dobby bring him back to the manor just long enough for him to snatch it up. “I am on her list of relatives who have her permission to access her vault.” He just hoped that she hadn’t had the time to send word to Gringotts about her nephew being a lying traitor, or anything like that.

The goblin gave Draco a long look, and then nodded once and hopped down from his desk. “Very well. Follow me, Mr. Malfoy.”

The other two boys came along as well, though Draco had already warned them to stand outside of the vault and not touch anything. Bellatrix was a paranoid bitch when it came to protecting her belongings, and there were so many curses on the vault just in case any unauthorized person ever managed to break in. There was also a waterfall that washed away enchantments, but the invisibility cloak would be fine, and Draco had warned them not to make any noises when the water hit them.

Draco and the goblin both stuck their keys in the door and it swung open. Draco stepped inside, keeping an impassive look on his face as his eyes skimmed over all of the treasure. He already felt like he was about to drown in it, and he couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be if any of the safeguards were triggered. He finally spotted a goblet that looked a bit worn out, but also fancy, and he grabbed it, holding his breath as he did so. There were no negative reactions, and Draco let out a soft sigh of relief before slipping the cup into his bag. And then, just to be on the safe side, he grabbed a handful of galleons to shove into the bag as well.

Then he left and they took the cart back to the main part of the bank, and then the three boys all shuffled out. As soon as they got outside, Dobby took them back to the vacation house, and then Harry and Krum threw off the cloak and looked relieved to be getting some fresh air. “That was so much easier than I had imagined it.”

Krum frowned. “Unfortunately, we lost the sword when the Snatchers grabbed us. It’s probably still lying in the middle of the forest somewhere.”

“Or hanging on the wall above one of those Snatchers’ mantles,” Harry grumbled. “And we don’t exactly have anything else lying around that could conveniently destroy a horcrux.”

Draco shrugged. “Well, there should still be some basilisk fangs lying around in the chamber, right? It’s not like anyone else would be able to go down there to clean the place up. It seemed to work well enough on the diary.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, that should work.”

Draco tried using a shrinking charm on the cup, but nothing happened, so instead he used an undetectable extension charm on his bag so that there wouldn’t be any risk of the cup falling out if it got jostled the wrong way. “So then I guess this means that it’s time to head back to school?”

,,,

“So there’s just one left, then?” Draco asked as he stared down at the smoldering remains of both the cup and the diadem. “Any clues about what it might be?”

Krum shrugged, but Harry suddenly straightened his back. “Actually, I might. I’m proof that a living horcrux is possible to make, right? And think about You-Know-Who’s snake. That thing’s been alive since like the forties, right? That seems like a really long lifespan for a snake. And the guy brings his snake with him literally everywhere he goes.”

Krum hefted the sword, which had been found in the sorting hat again. “I’ll take care of this. You two go and take care of whatever else needs to be done.”

He ran off, and Harry smiled. “Who would have thought that the hat would consider him to have those good old Gryffindor traits?” His smile faded when he saw the serious look on Draco’s face. “What?”

Draco frowned. “What are you going to do? The time limit is almost up.” He was pretty sure that he already knew what Harry’s answer was going to be. Harry was a Slytherin, but he was also pretty damn good at playing hero, and he wasn’t going to just let everyone in the school who were all fighting so hard just die when there was a way to stop it. But Harry wasn’t going to get yet another chance at life. If he got out into the Forbidden Forest and Krum hadn’t managed to kill the snake yet, Harry would be the one who died, and this time it would be permanent. No matter how angry he was with Harry, his stomach twisted up in knots at the thought of the boy dying, and of never being able to see him again.

“Don’t worry about it. Krum is definitely going to kick that snake’s ass. We still have almost an hour for him to do this. I believe in him.”

Draco narrowed his eyes, and he couldn’t stop himself from feeling hurt. “So you believe in him, a person who you barely even know, but you couldn’t believe in me, your own boyfriend? You couldn’t trust me to be able to handle the truth, but you can trust him to do the one thing that needs to be done in order for You-Know-Who to be defeated?” Obviously now wasn’t the right time for this, but if Harry was going to die in an hour, then when would be the right time?

There was a long silence, and then Harry slumped back against the stone wall behind him. “Draco…” there was a look of frustration on his face, and he took a few breaths before continuing. “I do believe in you. You’re the strongest, bravest, smartest guy I’ve ever known. You always talk about how you just want to protect me even though you know I can take care of myself. It’s the same for me. I know that you’re more than capable of getting by without any help, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to help. From wanting to keep you safe. From danger, from truths, from anything. You’re too important to me for me to risk anything happening to you.”

“That’s a shit excuse and you know it.”

Harry nodded. “I do know. But what else do you want me to say, Draco? That’s the truth.”

“As if I could trust you to tell me the truth,” he said with a scowl on his face.

“Right. Anyways, I’ve got something I need to do.” He paused for a moment before reaching forward and pressing something into Draco’s hand. “I thought you might need this.” Then he hurried off to who-knows-where in order to do who-knows-what.

After he was gone, Draco slowly looked down at his hand, and saw a familiar bottle of shimmery gold liquid. It was the liquid luck from last year. Draco wasn’t even sure when Harry had taken it back, or why he’d returned it now. He did a spell to check the time, and then shoved the vial into his pocket. Whatever was going to happen would be around midnight, and he didn’t want to waste a single moment of luck, so he’d wait to take it until closer to the time.

In the meanwhile, Draco went to find Severus. The rest of the school seemed convinced that he was a villain, and with the way he’d acted as headmaster, Draco couldn’t really blame them. But the man was still his godfather and Draco loved him, and wanted to figure out the easiest way to get Severus helping the light side and not getting turned away because of his past.

He went out to the battlefield, wand raised in preparation to blast away anyone who tried to cause him trouble. It took him a few minutes, but he finally spotted Severus and made his way over to him, though he paused while he was still a few feet away to chug back the liquid luck. All of the spells flying around him seemed to just miss him, and it was nice. Then he finally reached his godfather, where he did not receive the warm welcome that he would have expected. “What are you doing out here?” Severus seemed to be existing in his own private little bubble, and nobody from either side was doing anything to him, and Draco was safe as well. 

Severus gave him a long look. “Disarm me, Draco.”

“What?”

He held his arms out to the sides, holding his wand loosely in one hand. “Please. I know it probably doesn’t make much sense to you right now, but I need you to disarm me.”

Draco gave his godfather a bemused look, but he couldn’t really see any reason not to do as the man asked of him, so he nodded, and waved his own wand once. “ _Expelliarmus_!” Severus’ wand flew out of his hand and into Draco’s. “Now what?”

Severus shrugged. “Just keep it. I won’t be needing it for much longer.”

Draco narrowed his eyes, not liking the tone in Severus’ voice. He sounded like a defeated man, though for the life of him Draco couldn’t figure out why. “What the hell is going on?”

“Just get out of here, Draco. Please.” His voice sounded more urgent now, and Draco turned to see what the problem was. It was easy to spot Voldemort making his way across the field, lazily flicking spells towards anyone who got in his way, not caring when some of those spells hit his allies as well as his enemies. “Get out of here!” Severus barked out sharply. 

Draco shoved Severus’ wand back into his unwilling hand. “I’m not going anywhere,” he insisted. “We can face him together.” Though the snake was still gliding across the grass next to voldemort, so the odds of actually being able to defeat the dark lord seemed pretty slim. Where the hell was Krum? Why the hell had Harry said that he believed in that bastard?

Severus shook his head, and physically shoved Draco to the side. “Get out of here,” he hissed. 

But Draco just shook his head as well. “I’m not leaving you here. I don’t care what’s going on. We’re family, remember?” 

An unreadable look flashed across Severus’ face, and then his shoulders slumped down as he seemed to accept Draco’s determination. “Very well, then.” 

And then, as they were both watching, Krum came charging forward out of nowhere, another student by his side. Draco recognized the Gryffindor gold on the other student’s robes, but had no idea who it was. He stabbed the snake in the tail as he passed by, and when the snake reared back to hiss angrily, Krum swung Gryffindor’s sword forward and chopped its head right off. Then he and the other boy just kept on running forward, getting lost into the large crowd of battles as Voldemort turned towards them, looking enraged, seemingly having forgotten entirely about whatever business he’d had with Severus. 

Voldemort looked ready to give chase through the crowd, and began shooting a whole string of random curses, not caring who he hit so long as it cleared his path forward. But then a loud voice came from somewhere behind Voldemort, and everybody seemed to look over at the source in unison. “Hey! I thought our meeting wasn’t until midnight! You must be pretty eager to see me to show up early to our date!” Harry was standing by the edge of the forest, clearly having been prepared to head inside. 

Voldemort turned to look at Harry as well, and his red eyes seemed darker than before. “You,” he hissed out. “This is all your doing!”

Harry nodded, a proud little smirk on his face. “You bet your ass it is! So why don’t you face me like a man instead of hiding behind all of these people?”

Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry, though Draco squinted as he saw it. He’d seen Voldemort’s wand before, and it was not the one that he was currently holding. In fact, it appeared as though he had stolen Dumbledore’s wand, if Draco’s memory of the previous headmaster was at all accurate. Why the hell would he do that? As one last ‘eff you’ to the dead wizard? But wouldn’t that wand rightfully belong to Severus, since he’d been the one to kill Dumbledore? And then… and then Severus had just asked Draco to disarm him. Did that mean… did that mean that he was the rightful owner of the wand that Voldemort was currently wielding? What the hell was going on?

One thing was certain, though. If that wand was really Draco’s, for whatever reason, then he refused to let it be used to hurt Harry. All of the horcruxes had been destroyed, which meant that Voldemort should be vulnerable now. Enough so that Draco felt like it was okay to rush forward and physically tackle the wizard to the ground, grabbling around with him until he managed to pluck the wand free. As soon as it was in his hand, he could just feel how right it was for him. But what really scared him was the power that he could feel thrumming through it. No human being was meant to hold this much power in their hands.

Harry rushed forward to stand next to Draco, and both of them pointed their wands down at the fallen man. Voldemort sneered as he got to his feet, and Draco watched out of his periphery as several Death Eaters circled around them, pointing their wands towards Draco and Harry. “You are a mad man,” Harry said under his breath, just loud enough for Draco to be the only one to hear him. But he sounded more fond than anything, so it was hard to take that as an insult.

Draco cleared his throat, and spoke loudly enough for everyone around him to hear, putting the pieces together in his mind just moments before speaking, thinking of Harry’s cloak that never wore away or faded the way normal invisibility cloaks did, and the way Ollivander had been trapped and interrogated by Voldemort about something that had to be related to wands. “Have all of you here heard of the Deathly Hallows? A famous tale of three brothers who receive gifts from Death, a cloak of invisibility, a resurrection stone, and the most powerful wand in creation. Even just one of those items would make the owner an extremely powerful person-”

“And Draco has all three,” Harry announced in a calm voice. Draco blinked a few times, and looked sideways at Harry, trying to figure out what the boy was up to. Even if he was right about this wand, that still only added up to two things, and technically the cloak was Harry’s. Harry reached into his pocket, and pulled out a snitch that had its wings snipped off. He rolled it into Draco’s pocket instead. “The stone,” he said softly. “Dumbledore left it for me. Remember that time I almost swallowed a snitch? That’s the one. I’ll explain later.”

Draco nodded once, and then decided to roll with it. “I am the master of death! None of you will be able to touch me.” And the liquid luck coursing through him made him feel confident that he was right about at least that much.

Voldemort practically growled when he spoke. “You are just an ungrateful little brat! You know nothing!”

Harry offered a wicked little smile. “We know that you’re only about seventy years old. All those attempts to try and avoid death, and you’re younger than even Dumbledore was.”

Moving quickly than a man of his age should be able to, Voldemort dove down to snatch a wand off of one of the dead bodies that were scattered around the grass, and aimed it at Draco. Before he could get out a single spell, Draco and Harry both cursed him at the same time, and even though neither of them had used the forbidden killing curse, which surely would have been forgiven in a situation like this, the combination of spells seemed to be too much for Voldemort’s now vulnerable body, and he collapsed to the ground, eyes shut, chest unmoving. 

The Death Eaters all began shuffling around uncomfortably, unsure of what they were supposed to do if their master was really dead. And then, just to confirm it to every witness, the corpse began to fade away into nothing but white dust, scattered away by the late night breeze. People began cheering and screaming and yelling, and running around to hug each other and exclaim their relief. In the confusion, the professors were able to overtake the remaining Death Eaters. Draco was proud to watch as his mother and father both pulled off their masks and helped subdue the rest of their former colleagues. McGonagall gave them an uncertain look, but did nothing to stop them.

,,,

Everyone mourned the many lives that had been lost, but they also celebrated the fact that Voldemort was dead and most of his followers had been captured and put in prison. Narcissa and Lucius both testified against the other Death Eaters, and Harry spoke in their favor, and those two things combined were enough to stop them from being sent to Azkaban (or back to Azkaban, in his father’s case). 

Draco stared over the edge of a section of crumbled away architecture, and held both of his wands in his hand. Severus had advised him to choose very carefully what he was going to do next. Harry hadn’t tried to take back the snitch, either, though Draco hadn’t been able to figure out how it was the stone. And Harry still had his cloak. Some ‘master of death’ Draco was. But it was probably for the best that he’d never actually held all three Hallows in his hands at the same time. It really would be too much power.

As he stood around, Draco wasn’t expecting to hear soft footsteps approaching, and he turned to see if it was his godfather or parents coming to check on him in the aftermath of everything. Instead, it was Harry himself, who was probably the last person Draco had expected to see here. “Hey,” he started awkwardly.

Harry bit his lip and then let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry that I let you down Draco. And I know I’ve done unforgivable things. But I just…” he trailed off for a moment, and turned to look out at the nice view of the sky instead of at Draco. “I just want to make things right. I want to prove that I trust you and believe you more than anybody else in the world.” He suddenly shoved a familiar feeling cloth into Draco’s hands. “Now you really are the master of death. If there’s anybody in the world who I trust with that kind of power, it’s you.”

Draco gasped at the thought, but then he finally gave Harry the cloak back. “I think this is meant to be yours.” Then he stuck the elder wand into his pocket, and kept holding his regular wand. “Someday I might realize that I need it for something or other, but right now, just my normal wand is good enough.” Then he stared out at the view as well. “I’m sorry that I ever made you feel like you were unwanted. I was just angry and said things in the moment that I didn’t really mean. I wish you’d just been honest with me about what you knew, but in the end, knowing wouldn’t have changed anything. I don’t think I would have been able to kill Dumbledore. And if Severus made an unbreakable vow saying he’d do it, then what other choice was there, really? But he’s someone I care about a lot, and he had to ruin himself for me.”

Harry snorted. “We’re both so messed up.”

“It’s all your fault,” Draco accused in a teasing tone. “You’re the one who started it all by going and being the ‘chosen one’ and all that.” They both chuckled, and then were silent for a moment before Draco spoke again. “Are we ever going to be okay?”

Harry shrugged. “Being with you is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life… but neither of us have ever been with anyone else, so I guess that we don’t really have anything to go by. We’ve both been through so much together, good stuff and bad, but I think we need a chance to figure out who we are when we’re not together.”

Draco took in a shuddery breath. “Didn’t we already do that, though? You were with Krum for almost an entire year.”

Harry made a face. “I wasn’t _with him_ with him. We were just working together. I needed help and I didn’t know where else to go.”

“You could’ve come to me,” Draco said quietly. “I would have helped you.” But Harry didn’t respond, so he just sighed. “So where does this leave us?”

“I don’t-” Harry stopped, and blinked a few times. And then he laughed, though Draco couldn’t figure out what could possibly be so funny at a time like this. “We sound like the main characters of a trashy romance novel.” He tilted his head to the side, and waited until Draco turned to look him right in the eyes. “You know what? We’ve been through hell together over and over and we’ve always made it through because we went through it together. We looked out for each other and protected each other and loved each other. Make no mistake, I do love you, Draco. And we do make each other happy. So if you’re willing to take me back-”

Draco cut him off by pressing a long kiss against Harry’s lips, and didn’t step back until his lungs felt like they were burning. “You daft idiot. I love you too.” He reached out with his free hand to take Harry’s, and gave it a gentle squeeze, and then they both turned to look out at the view together. It was the way they’d always done things, and Draco didn’t see any point in messing with a good thing now.

**Author's Note:**

> Woo, now there's just the epilogue to go and then we are finished with this story!


End file.
